Betrayal
by Broken Twisted Lullabies
Summary: When Cas comes face to face with the Trickster, he realizes the demigod isn't what he says he is, which then brings up only painful memories from when he was a fledgling. (set during 5.08 - Changing Channels. Makes reference to "Father's Gone)


**Hey guys! I'm finally back with a new fic! School's been such a pain, taking up literally all my time but I managed to get some free time and type this. There should be more fics coming fairly soon! This is a bit short and having not typed anything but reports for two weeks straight, this is a bit rusty and scrappy compared to my other works but I still wanted to write this.**

 **It's set during 5.08 Changing Channels, right before the Knight Rider scene.**

 **Hope you guys like it!**

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The trench coated angel looked around, confused. One moment he had been standing with Dean and Sam, the next thing he knew, he had been whisked away and was now trapped in a small room. A large tv was mounted on the wall in front of him and Castiel could see both Sam and Dean on the screen, causing him to frown. Taking his gaze off the television, the angel took in the rest of his surroundings, noting how lavishly put together the room was.

Turning his head, Castiel found himself once more staring at the face of the supposed Trickster both Winchester brothers had run into multiple times, confused to how the pagan knew his name. As well as why it insisted on calling him the horrible nickname his older brother, Gabriel once had called him. Watching the being carefully, the angel knew something was wrong about the Trickster in front of him. The amount of power he had unleashed that very moment back in the motel room, it was not the strength of a normal demigod or even pagan god at most.

No, this being was stronger, much more than what he led others to believe he was.

The Trickster chuckled, taking a seat on one of the leather couches and smirked, snapping up a lollipop. "I can practically see the gears churning in your head Castiel, whatcha thinking?" The being asked, far too relax to be in the room with an angel.

Most demons, even those who were fairly high in rank were weary around angels and pagan deities were no different, further adding to the fact the Trickster in front of him wasn't a Trickster god. Not really.

"Right, sorry kiddo, forgot 'bout the tape," he smirked, snapping his fingers and removing the silver tape from the angel's mouth. "Take a seat, relax a bit," the Trickster said calmly, never once his grin fading.

Castiel followed the being's instructions, knowing he was at the mercy of the so called Trickster before him. While in this creature's home, it was best to go with what it said. Sitting on the edge of the couch opposite to the creature, he watched as it seemed to grin wider, clearing enjoying himself.

"Who are you?" Castiel asked, knowing that unless he was direct, the creature wasn't going to drop any hints or reveal himself on his own. Taking the guise of a Trickster wasn't something simple, the angel having heard of their twisted morals and cruel jokes on multiple occasions. These creatures spun lies and had silver tongues, manipulative enough to get exactly what they wanted, when they wanted it without fear.

"Who am I?" The Trickster echoed voice filled with humour. "Name's Loki kid."

Shaking his head, the angel realized the mistake in his question. "What are you?"

This caused the supposed Trickster to give him a funny look. "I'm a Trickster, obviously angel. Didn't your boy toy and his brother tell you about me?"

"Not really. If anything, Dean called you a pain in the ass but other than that, no," he answered honestly, watching a look of pain and hurt form on the creature's face.

"Ouch, that hurts! After everything we had been through together, all those Tuesdays and even the slow dancing aliens I'd think I earned a bit more that a 'pain in the ass'."

At first, Castiel had almost thought the hurt was genuine on the being's face but after hearing its mocking tone, he knew it was all false.

"Whatever," the Trickster said, waving it off. "Tough crowd, eh?"

Cas didn't answer him, thinking about his earlier response. About how he had said he was a trickster. It didn't add up. "No, you aren't."

Furrowing his brow, the Trickster gave him a confused look. "Pardon?"

"You aren't a Trickster," Castiel explained and the creature laughed, lollipop still remaining in his mouth.

"Course I am kiddo. What makes you think I'm not?" Although it was meant to be playful, Castiel could have sworn something flashed in the golden gaze of the not-Trickster but it vanished too quickly. It knew he was getting on to him.

"You are far too powerful to be a lowly Trickster." When the Trickster opened his mouth to speak, the trench coated angel continued. "And far too powerful for a pagan god as well. You are stronger, much older, and powerful."

Those words caused the Trickster's grin to fall slightly and he rose from his seat, walking towards Castiel. "You know, you're smart. Smarter than I originally had thought. And here I was thinking you were just as oblivious as those two Winchesters you hang out with are." The air around them seemed to shift and Castiel's eyes grow wide at the being before him.

The illusion it had created was gone and Cas could finally see the true face of the creature, breath catching in his throat. Three halos floated above the not-Trickster's head, interlocked and a faint rustling could be heard, that similar to when an angel shifted its wings.

"Gabriel," Cas gasped, rising from his seat in shock.

His older brother gave a crooked smile, one different from that Castiel had seen earlier on the Trickster. This was kinder, more like the Gabriel he had known as a fledgling. "Hey Cassie, long time no see, huh?" It was said so casually, as if the two had only seen each other mere days ago. That over 2,000 years hadn't passed since they had last talked.

Castiel remained silent, not daring to speak. He wanted to believe this was his brother, not a cruel trick set up but to come to terms with Gabriel being alive meant that his brother had faked his death all these years. That, for centuries, he had convinced all of Heaven he was dead and allowed them to mourn while he called himself a god down on Earth. Believing this caused anger and betrayal to bubble in his grace, emotions long since buried away trying to resurface.

"What, cat got your tongue kid?" Gabriel joked, his whole attitude light and joyful, the exact opposite of how Castiel felt.

"You're alive," the blue eyed angel stated, wanting to be happy that he hadn't lost his favourite older brother but he couldn't. "H-How? You died! Anael…Anael saw it happen! There were demons surrounding you, we heard your scream, Anael saw your wings burnt to ash! It's impossible to have survived!"

Gabriel gave a soft sigh and Castiel knew that sigh. Gabriel had done it multiple times back when he was a fledgling and he or one of his brothers had asked Gabriel something, usually a rather difficult or painful question. It was the sigh that what he would say wasn't going to be pretty and Cas' grace sunk, whimpering.

"No," he whispered, eyes growing impossibly wider. "No."

"Cas…"

"We thought you were dead! For centuries I mourned! Denied every rumour I heard about you running away, even those saying you planned to join Lucifer," he yelled, his hands beginning to shake.

Gabriel frowned, "You know I could never choose between my brothers, Cas."

He never denied the running away part, Castiel noticed. After all this time, Michael had been right. Gabriel was a coward, not the hero he had made his big brother out to be all those years ago. It felt like he had been stabbed, grace ripped apart as the truth came crashing down upon him. "Michael was right. He said you were cowardly, afraid to fight and ran away because of that. Said your cowardice was the reason you died and…" Cas swallowed, eyes dropping to the ground.

The ending of the sentence, although unspoken, Gabriel knew and he narrowed his eyes. He had heard Michael silently curse him, over and over before his "death," how Gabriel was a traitor, a coward and when he would be found, he would be punished accordingly – of course Gabriel had rolled his eyes at those threats, knowing Michael would never find him. But hearing Cas call him a traitor, that hurt him much more than when his older brothers called him that. Yes, he had run away, ditching his family but in no way was he a coward. He had done far more than Castiel had realized and wasn't going to let a tiny little feather duster talk back to him. Even as a pagan, he was more powerful than Castiel (also keeping in mind he could see his brother slowly falling cut off from Heaven's power). "I am not a coward," Gabriel growled.

"Yes, you are," Castiel said softly, lifting his head, and looking his brother in the eyes. "You ran away. You left rather than stick around and try to fix things. I believe that accurately fits the definition of a coward." It came out much harsher than originally planned but seeing the look on his brother's face, the blue eyed angel enjoyed it.

Gabriel scoffed rolling his eyes, "Like you should judge me on my choices. Judging on what I hear from upstairs, you aren't the best little angel either."

That comment angered Castiel and he let the anger inside his grace rise, growing sick now of his brother's behaviour. After everything that had happened, Gabriel never once apologized or dropped the whole 'not a coward' act. His brother was just as stubborn with believing he could never do or be wrong, much like Michael and after ears of dealing with the crap both the remaining Archangel in Heaven pushed on him, it felt good to snap at one of them. "I didn't run away and fake my death. My actions are not comparable to yours," he hissed and Gabriel clenched his teeth, the lollipop crunching in his mouth.

"You listen here, Castiel," he snarled, light bulbs beginning to flicker and eyes lit up like molten lava. "You better watch how you talk to me. I am still an Archangel and you should know your place." As Gabriel said that, his wings appeared, arching high above his head threateningly, thunder crackling outside. The light bulbs, unable to survive against the power Gabriel was giving off shattered, raining glass down on the two of them. Although his vessel was shorter than Cas', Gabriel seemed to loom over Castiel, and for the first time, Castiel was actually a bit scared of Gabriel. Having grown so accustom to the playful, kind side of God's Messenger while growing up, Castiel often forgot his older brother was just as powerful and dangerous as Michael or Raphael. That the Gabriel he knew was only one side to him.

"You are no Archangel. Not anymore," he spat, not backing down. His grace buzzed angrily and Gabriel lunged forwards, grasping the front of his trench coat, slamming the younger angel in to one of the walls. Castiel grunted, the wall behind him cracking from the force Gabriel had used.

"You better fix that mouth of yours, little brother," the Archangel warned, the smell of burning ozone filling the air.

"Why should I? You betrayed me. You don't deserve my respect."

The grip on the front of his coat loosened slightly and Gabriel, panting, watched him with dark eyes.

"You lied to us and abandoned us!"

"Oh grow up Castiel! I did what I had to do!" Gabriel shot back, grip tightening once more.

Castiel snorted in disbelief. "No, you did what you wanted to do. You didn't have to leave. You chose to! Just like our Father, you ran like a coward."

That struck a cord and Gabriel gave an animalistic growl, causing the ground to shake. Pictures fell from the walls around them, crashing to the ground. "How dare you assume to know my actions? You have no clue why I did what I did and I will not have a lowly angel tell me what to do!" Leaning in closer, he added, "And don't you dare compare me to that deadbeat. I am nothing like him."

"Oh really? Then why did you leave?" Cas retorted.

"Because I had to! I had no other choice!" Gabriel shouted, feeling like he was repeating himself to his baby brother. Releasing Castiel, he took a step back and ran a hand through his hair shakily, chest heaving. He began to then pace, clenching and unclenching his fists, air crackling dangerously.

Rather than stop here, Castiel continued to let out all his pent up anger on his brother, still not understanding. "What kind of answer is you 'had to'?" He yelled, quoting his brother. "You promised us you would never leave and you did! You broke your promise and betrayed us! Left us!"

Gabriel stopped pacing, facing Castiel and gave a bitter chuckle. "You think I wanted to leave you behind? Leave the three of you behind as well as my home and family? You think I didn't tear myself apart, knowing that back home, there would be three fledglings waiting for me to play games with them, read them stories?" His wings flared outwards, shadows bouncing off the walls. "I lost everything after the fall! I watched my brothers turn on each other, watched my little brothers and sisters become soldiers! My own brother called me a traitor and spy, threatened to rip my grace out, kick me out of Heaven if I didn't choose his side, so go ahead and tell me I didn't have to leave," He hissed, gold eyes narrow slits. "Tell me I was a coward for leaving, go ahead!"

"You could have stayed and fixed things," Castiel argued, earning another cold chuckle from God's Messenger.

"Fix what exactly? Heaven was a mess."

"No thanks to you," Castiel shot back and everything after that happened so quickly.

The Archangel's fist collided with Cas' face, easily breaking his vessel's nose and causing the Seraph to stumble from the sheer force of the punch. Another blow followed soon after, this time to his chest and he gave a gasp, breath knocked out of him for a moment. Gabriel continued to attack him; wild and unexpected was each punch, causing Cas to struggle to block any of them. It wasn't until he was on the ground, looking up at Gabriel did he see the dark glint in his brother's eyes, and looming over him, Gabriel growled, "There is nothing to fix Castiel. I know what you and the vessels are trying to accomplish and it won't work. There is no stopping this. They will say yes, Michael and Lucifer will receive their vessels and all of this will be over."

"Gabriel, this isn't you. Please, brother, please," Cas choked out. "You don't mean that."

"But I do, Castiel," Gabriel told him, looming over his sibling. "I will be merciful but heed my words. There is no changing of destiny. This will end bloody for us all and you can't stop it." And he was gone with a flap of his wings, leaving Castiel lying on the glass covered floor in the small pocket dimension with his words ringing in his head.

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 **It's a bit short but I promise the next one will be longer! It took me far too long to type this, feeling so awkward and scrappy for a good chunk of it so I apologize if this was fairly horrible compared to other things I've posted.**

 **Let me know what you guys liked/disliked about it and expect a few more fics posted these next few days!**

 **-Ally**


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